Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Snoopy ,the Italian teacher.

I am currently learning Italian.

Yes, I am or well…I m trying to..I taught myself English a million years ago so I thought maybe I had some kind of hidden talent for languages lying inside of me.Not really... Learning italian is a different story.Even thought understanding the language is not a problem ,I find myself searching for words for far too long ,challenging anyone ‘s patience(even mine) to be able to have a proper conversation. Its like learning to speak all other again but with all the frustration that goes with it…At the exception of when pointing at stuff fill me with pride because i got the right word for it or when reading complicated sentences finally makes sense…..

But I am struggling in group when everyone is talking over each over voices ,when it all become just a buzz with a lot of hands gestures…or when someone tell a joke ,where an (almost accurate)English version is needed for me as I could not get it. The over dramatic me ,feels like I somehow missed the highlight of the evening! (but to be honest it is probably some crap jokes, “cousin Tony” or a not-so-funny friend said for the 10th times..)

So then I thought about books….books would help…books get you through anything ,right?

Full of hopes and over confidence I headed to the local library. Where I found this beautiful book from Miranda July :

Having read it in English before,i thought to myself how hard it can be…

Well..I admired its beautiful cover in the sun ,pointed at words I could recognise…but failed ..and decided that it was better to let it go and eventually meet again in the future(not so far hopefully)…

Italian was my minor! I know what you mean about not being able to keep up in conversation. I'm pretty sure Italians actually do speak much faster than most people. Of the languages that I've taken, Italian was the hardest for me to keep up with. Good luck! Sounds like you have a knack for language, so I'm sure you'll do fine.